Do you know the top 12 chicken predators and how to protect your chickens from them?
Your backyard chickens can be a magnet for predators. As chicken keepers, it's important to set up a secure chicken coop to protect your flock. The first step to protecting your flock is to identify potential predators. Here is a list of the top 12 chicken predators so you can protect your backyard chickens.
1. Hawks
Hawks prey on chickens and are hard to defeat without an enclosed overhead run.
2. Foxes
Antique Fox bookplate via Grandpa's Market
Foxes are well-known for their love of a chicken meal. They are more likely to strike in the evening.
3. Weasels
Via LiveScience photo by Cecil Sanders
Weasels (including fishers which are in the same family) are fierce chicken attackers.
4. Snakes
Photo: The Walden Effect
Snakes can get into small openings and hide in coop bedding. Chicken coop construction should be sturdy, floors should be solid, and gaps in door openings should be 1/4 inch or less.
5. Unfriendly Canines
Christopher Bruno via Wikipedia
Unfriendly canines such as dogs, coyotes, and wolves can dig under fencing or push open unsecure sliding chicken doors.
6. Raccoons
Raccoons can twist open chicken wire. Be sure to use welded wire mesh hardware cloth instead of chicken wire on window and door openings. Also, doors should latch tightly using a child-safe lock.
7. Great Horned Owls
These sneaky predators can walk right in the coop and sidle up to a roosting chicken.
8. Bears
Yes, bears will break into chicken coops.
9. Felines
Felines such as bobcats, cougars, mountain lions, feral cats, and even domestic cats are all chicken predators.
10. Opossums
Cody Pope via Wikipedia
Opossums are omnivorous and will prey on chickens.
11. Skunks and Badgers
These animals are also known to make a meal of chicken.
12. Rats
Larry Friesen via Outdoor Alabama
Rats are also a threat - particularly to baby chicks and eggs.
When your chickens leave the safety of the coop during the day, it's harder to protect them from predators. Consider covering your outdoor run to protect your chickens from hawks and snakes during the daytime. If your chickens free range, make sure they can take cover under something if a hawk flies overhead. A secure fence should help protect your flock from unfriendly canines.
If you are unsure what sort of predator is lurking around your coop, one way to find out is to watch for tracks in the snow or spread a layer of sand around your coop. Match the tracks from the predators on our list. We use a tracking book. You can also identify predators by the scat they leave behind or how they wound chickens.
Now that you know the top 12 chicken predators, you're armed with the knowledge you need to secure your flock in the safest possible chicken coop.
These are common predators! Always make sure your hen house is safe and if they are free-ranging they need places to hide. Your chicken run should be protected with hardware cloth so at nighttime they're safe from domestic dogs and birds of prey!
Which chicken predators have you spotted or dealt with? Let us know in the comments below!
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